Summary: Post-Racial America?

In his article, “What Happened to Post-Racial America?” Roger Simon not only questions America being post-racial as a country, but he actually questions if America was ever a country free from racism and racial discrimination. First, Simon informs the reader of a cover on the New Yorker which was printed the summer before Obama became president. Although the cover seemingly laughed off outrageous views that some people supposedly felt about Obama, Simon addresses the fact that “those obvious distortions” on the cover are now seriously talked and debated about today in American media. Simon also mentions that during a trip to Turkey, President Obama stated, “our society has continued to improve; that racial discrimination has been reduced”. Simon informs the reader that some Americans claim President Obama is an alien while others claim he is racist against whites. Simon also mentions the fact that although President Obama did obviously win the presidential election, it was because he had enough white votes when counted with the minority votes to win. In other words, the majority of the white voters did not vote for President Obama. In the end, Simon concludes that America is getting closer to being post-racial, but there are still “mountains yet to climb.” When I was searching for an article to write about, the title of Simon’s essay caught my attention. I saw the title and thought to myself, “When was America ever post-racial?” His essay addresses my question in the very first paragraph with the first example. Simon mentions the fact that the “obvious distortions” that were addressed on the cover of the New Yorker concerning President Obama are now seriously talked about. I have to agree with Simon on this point. It is not only spoken about on the radio and television as Simon mentions, but those issues are also mentioned on social media sites such as Facebook as well. The very fact that these issues continue to be addressed shows that racial discrimination